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Globalism Fails to Benefit Average Americans

April 15, 2012John Olen

The culture of globalism dictates that companies will seek profits wherever they can be found in the world. This often means pulling up manufacturing operations in the U.S. that have been in place for decades and putting thousands out of work. But corporations benefit from globalization in a way that workers do not. Workers cannot often pull up roots and go looking for better jobs anywhere in the world. Workers have a connection to their country, but our country’s policies seem to continuously reward corporations with no ties to their country instead.

The idea of globalism has been pervasive in our national discourse in recent decades. Corporations now have global strategies and have little or no loyalty to the country where they got their start.

By opening our borders through free trade, our labor force has merged with that of Mexico, China, and many other countries where the pay rate is much lower than what constitutes a living wage in the United States. This has both driven down wages in our country for the jobs that remain here, and encouraged companies to ship many jobs to these countries where they can exploit the cheap labor. Does it really constitute a level playing field when the wage that can support a family in one country cannot support a single person in the United States? Because of globalism, and more specifically our free trade policies, these are the terms Americans are being asked to compete under.

The fact that Americans are asked to compete with workers who make so little is a choice. We do not have to allow our companies to take some of our best jobs, ship them overseas, and then sell the products back to us at no penalty, but we continue to do so. The U.S. lost 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000, yet we are continuing to consider passing trade pacts with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia that would further devastate our industries.

If we would step back and look at the reality of our situation, we would realize that globalism in an economic sense is benefiting very few individuals in our country. Trade pacts like NAFTA have torn apart our manufacturing base while further enriching those who were already rich. Our government needs to be looking out for its citizens who have strong ties to the country, not the corporations who would gladly throw the country under the bus for a few more dollars.